Chronicaling my life……

Main Menu

House Maids in Kuwait

Is it just me or is this topic becoming more and more annoying? We’ve gone through four maids in the past 6 months or so. Each one worse than the other. It can’t be our bad luck that all four were useless. Even after them taking the mandatory house keeping class before coming, they still don’t know how to do the basics!! Come on! That’s bullshit. Washing a spoon to make it clean is common sense.

When the agents increased the price to bring a maid………we didn’t say anything. They increased salaries to a minimum of 90 kd (for a filipino with no experience)……….not a peep from us.A filipino with experience can reach up to 120 kd per month.In this case I expect top notch service, I’m talking personal assistant, house management, appointment making, massage and nutritional advise service. I swear we had one recently who couldn’t distinguish the difference between men’s and women’s clothes.

Despite treating them with the utmost respect, to the extent of pampering sometimes, they still don’t want to work (we’ve been asking all the people we know how they treat their help and in comparison, the ones that work for us are like taking a holiday in Bali). And if you try to be fair and treat them like employer and employee, they cry, get upset and don’t want to work. “Take me to office sir!”

I can’t go on rambling about this anymore at this time. There is so much to nit pick on this subject.

Post navigation

7 responses to “House Maids in Kuwait”

Butlers and house boys would work way better for Kuwait society than house maids would. We simply adore the domestic help to be had in Africa. Perhaps, your local maid recruitment agency could step on the gas and recruit Kenyan or Zambian house boys. Equally, Gorkhas from Nepal are fine too! But honestly, I wonder why would anyone want to hire live-in maids?! Seems like such a b****y invasion of one’s privacy and space. Do they not do hire-a-maid by the hour service?
Peace

Thanks for the comments. We used to have house boys back in the days in Kuwait; Granted, they were either homosexual or eunuchs. In some cases, when they weren’t either, they eloped with the young woman of the house – much to the chagrin of the father.
So for the we have seen an introduction of Ethiopian, Somali and Eritrean woman house maids. I don’t foresee any recruitment agencies bringing male helps from either of the places you mentioned. Purely because they might not be accepted in the common house holds (no offence to anyone). Don’t forget, many of the families remain headstrong in their beliefs that foreign/non-family males should not stay in the same house as the woman. It’s a culture and religious thing what will not go away (I personally agree).
As for the Gorkhas and Nepalese, they have increased in the past years, however, more in the public and commercial sectors.

Live-in maids is just more comfortable to have. Actually they have their own living quarters and it’s quite convenient. Having to call someone in is just a burden because you have to closely monitor. Plus, most of the homes here prefer live-in help to babysit, clean, cook and all the other remedial jobs the boss requires. (some like to have the help at their beckoning call for even the slightest things!)

There are many small companies that offer hourly/daily help, but can be heavy on the wallet if called too often. It becomes more cost effective to have live-ins.

in all cases, it’s becoming more and more of a headache to have live-ins or short service help around the house.

(This subject can go on and on with the ranting’s – rain cheque please!.)

I can speak for myself when I say that me and my immediate family have worked for many years for ourselves – cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.
There comes a point when your parents get too old, you’re very busy at work and household chores become overwhelming. So we’ve requested additional help. We never mistreat them, always give them salaries on time, speak to them politely, teach them the basics of life (including how to cook and clean), give them gifts on their and our holidays, buy them all their essential needs, you name it. They usually work from 7am till around 5pm then they knock off for the day. So their entire salaries are sent back home – where it’s most needed.
I can’t say the same happens with other families here in Kuwait though. I have heard of a lot of mistreatment in all imaginable ways.
What gets under my skin is that with all the aforementioned things we [my family and I] do, the housekeeper takes us for granted – doesn’t want to work, steals, acts stupid so she doesn’t get much work, etc.
NOW WE ARE THE ONES BEING MISTREATED!!
If they don’t like it, then stay home. Don’t think about working as a housemaid in the Kuwait, go to any other GCC country.
You don’t have to generalise all Kuwaitis and maid tyrants. I’m trying to share the other side of the story. Not all housekeepers are poor innocent people, they also understand the game and come here for their own agendas.